This Week in Data – October 19

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Four questions every privacy officer needs to ask 

The GDPR rules now state every business under its jurisdiction needs to appoint a privacy officer. Smart move. But…how they make sure their employer is switched on? Forbes has a great article with four questions they should ask – it’s a good list for any company dealing with data, really.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“…data is worthless if you can’t access and use it. There’s no benefit in mere collection of data for a business…So, if you understand how data may move when processed, you then have to determine who and what has access to that data.”

What’s the secret behind Alibaba’s success?

Cheap prices aren’t the be all and end all. As Axios points out, the success of the enterprise is really in the data it collects and then sells on to third parties. And it’s ramping up that effort, identifying massive companies like Mars and Samsung to help them understand the Chinese market.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“One success story that’s already come from the data-sharing is the 麻辣 (mala) Snickers bar. Alibaba told Mars, Snickers’ parent company, that Chinese snackers were consistently buying food with a classic Szechuan spicy flavor called 麻辣 (mala). Snickers used that to develop a spicy chocolate bar for China that’s been wildly popular.”

The future of payments comes to Sydney

Sibos, one of the largest financial services conferences is in the world, is in Sydney next week – and the topic of conversation will be the future of technology and payments combined. Given the huge amount of activity in Australia regarding data sharing and open banking, it’s certainly the right place.

Oh – and Data Republic will be exhibiting there too! Drop by, won’t you? Booth #DZ74 in the Discover Zone

THE TAKEAWAY:

“Among about 300 exhibitors next week will be the four major Australian banks, the Reserve Bank of Australia, global central banking counterparts the European central bank and US Federal Reserve, and dozens of global banks, fintechs, cybersecurity firms, management consultants, global investment banks and various tech giants, including Google, IBM and Microsoft.”

Hong Kong needs to combat financial crime with data laws

And not just Hong Kong, really. The South China Morning Post points out that other jurisdictions need to standardize their data privacy laws to crack down on financial crime. It comes as a recent report found 19 countries spent $US1.28 trillion on chasing crime…but the money wasn’t “invested effectively”. Geez.

THE TAKEAWAY:

“There needs to be a global movement to harmonize what we mean by data privacy and what is an acceptable standard, and what isn’t for people and for individuals’ rights.”

Australia’s Consumer Data Rights bill gets some changes…

Speaking of data laws, Australia’s Treasury has made some changes to the draft Consumer Data Right legislation. As Allens points out, some of the changes roll back the power of the laws and more specifically define some important points. Probably for the best…

THE TAKEAWAY:

“In the first round of consultations on the draft CDR Bill, one of the biggest sticking points for industry was the exceptionally broad definition of CDR data…Treasury has responded to these concerns by clarifying its position that the scope of data that should be included in the CDR is consistent with what the Open Banking Review recommended.”

 

That’s our wrap for this week. Thanks for reading – we hope you found it entertaining and informational. We’d love to hear your thoughts on these articles and anything else data related! Email us anytime at enquiries@datarepublic.com!

Until next week,

Team Data Republic

 

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